As the scandal surrounding the targeting of tea party groups by the IRS continues,  some Kentucky tea party activists are upset with Senator Mitch McConnell's role in the process—even as the state party is asking them to support him.

In Kentucky, only the statewide 9/12 project has come forward to acknowledge that they were targeted and that they were rejecting the IRS' apology on the matter.

But that hasn't stopped Kentucky politicians, including McConnell, from consistently pointing to the issue. He's demanded a full investigation into the matter.

The Republican Party of Kentucky is circulating a letter to back up McConnell on his efforts, asking tea party activists in Kentucky to sign it.

But Kentucky tea party activist David Adams called the attempts opportunistic.

The incoming chief of the Owensboro Public School system says fully-funding pre-Kindergarten programs would be the best education investment state lawmakers could make.

Nick Brake will take over as leader of Owensboro's school system July 1, following seven years with the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation.

He told WKU Public Radio increased pre-K funding is money well spent.

"If you fully fund those programs, not only do you contribute three-to-one to their earnings later, but every dollar you spend there ends up saving the state money on the back end with benefit programs, criminal justice, and other savings," Brake said. "It's a long-term investment and sometimes those are difficult for public policy makers to swallow, but I think it's an investment that needs to be made."

Brake signed a four-year contract Monday to take over as leader of the Owensboro Public School system.

A crash on the Western Kentucky Parkway at mile marker 130, west of Elizabethtown, has closed the eastbound lanes. The closure comes after a semi crashed into a bridge.

Eastbound motorists must exit at White Mills and use U.S. 62 to continue to Elizabethtown.

The closure is expected to last until 5:00 p.m. central/6:00 eastern.

Survivors of the nation's deadliest alcohol-related highway crash are expected to attend a public memorial service in a central Kentucky town on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.
   
The service is set for Tuesday evening at North Hardin High School at Radcliff.
   
Twenty-seven people died when the church bus they were in was hit by a drunken driver on May 14, 1988, along a rural stretch of Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Ky.
   
Forty people, mostly youngsters, escaped the burning bus. The group had spent the day at Kings Island amusement park in Ohio and was headed home to Radcliff when their bus was hit by a pickup truck driven by Larry Mahoney.
   
Mahoney survived and was convicted of assault, manslaughter and wanton endangerment. He was released from prison in 1999.

On the 25th anniversary of the nation's deadliest drunk driving crash, federal safety officials are pushing for tougher DUI laws. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that states lower the benchmark for determining when a driver is intoxicated.  NTSB chair Deborah Hersman says hundreds of lives could be saved each year by lowering the blood alcohol level.

"We can choose to accept the senseless and needless losses or we choose to act," Hersman remarks.

The NTSB is also pushing for stiffer drunk driving penalties, including laws requiring first-time offenders to have ignition locking devices. 

The NTSB recommendations come 25 years after a drunk driver travelling on the wrong side  of I-71 in Carrollton, Kentucky slammed head-on into a bus carrying passengers home from a church youth trip.  Twenty-seven people died, 24 of them children.

A company that makes glass doors will create 100 full-time jobs when it opens its manufacturing plant in western Kentucky.

Glass Door Solutions LLC is a new company that plans to lease a facility in Elkton in Todd County with an investment of $3.5 million.

The state has given preliminary approval to tax incentives of up to $1.95 million for the project.

Gov. Steve Beshear helped announce the plan on Monday.

Beshear's office said Glass Door Solutions will make glass doors for display cases in grocery and convenience stores.

Owensboro Public Schools didn’t have to go far to find the new chief of its city school system. Nick Brake, president and CEO of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation, has signed a four-year contract to lead Owensboro Public Schools.

The Messenger-Inquirer reports Brake will earn an initial annual salary of $144,000.

Current Owensboro schools superintendent Larry Vick will serve his last day on the job June 30.

Almost 300 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell are due home from Afghanistan.

A welcome-home ceremony is scheduled for late Tuesday night at the Army installation on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.

The soldiers are members of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. They have been in Afghanistan for nine months.

A new poll shows 78 percent of Kentuckians support the legalization of medical marijuana, while others would be fine with widespread legalization.

The Kentucky Health Issues Poll has conducted polling on a wide array of issues for the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky over the past few months, from a statewide smoking ban to health insurance coverage.

Its latest poll  shows overwhelming support for medical marijuana in Kentucky. It also shows roughly one in four Kentuckians would be okay with legalizing pot even for recreational use.

Only 38 percent oppose legalizing marijuana for any reason at all.

Foundation CEO Susan Zepeda was surprised by the results.  She says marijuana still poses some health risks, even if it's used for medical purposes.